


Gift of the Youkai (2011)

by JennyB



Series: Advent 2011 [2]
Category: Saiyuki
Genre: Advent Challenge 2011, Brotherly Love, Flashbacks, Gen, Podfic Available
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-12-02
Updated: 2011-12-02
Packaged: 2018-01-05 20:05:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,783
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1098073
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JennyB/pseuds/JennyB
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's not necessarily the gift, but the feeling behind it that matters.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Gift of the Youkai (2011)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Sharpeslass](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sharpeslass/gifts).



> Written for Advent Challenge 2011. Prompt: Christmas Celebration.
> 
> Podfic (by the lovely Kansouame ♥♥) here: [Take a Listen!](http://www.mediafire.com/?llp6w55r96hzv6p)

Gojyo sniffled silently in the darkness of his room as he rubbed gingerly over his stinging backside. He'd been late again coming home from school, and when asked where he'd been, he'd told Jien he'd gotten a detention. It had earned him five licks across the ass with his brother's belt and no supper, but Gojyo still believed it had been worth it. In another week, he'd have enough money, and he could stop lying about getting in trouble at school to hide the fact that he was secretly working two afternoons a week. He let his gaze flick briefly to the loose piece of baseboard by his closet - the place where he kept his treasure squirreled away. Old Man Fong was not the kindest person to work for, and he certainly paid a pittance, but Fong always had some sort of menial chore available for him to do if he was willing to do it.

His belly growled in protest, and Gojyo let out a soft, forlorn groan as he pressed his fingertips against his abdomen. He was hungry, but he'd gladly starve in order to make his brother happy. He shifted onto his back, wincing only slightly from the pain on his rear end, and he thought about the present he was going to give Jien in one month on Christmas morning. _Christmas_. He remembered he'd seen a small book about Christmas in a thrift shop window back in September. The cover had shown a picture of a happy family sitting around a prettily decorated tree. Everyone had been smiling and laughing, and Gojyo had been immediately enamoured by it. Jien had simply chuckled, called him a dumbass, and then forked over the six jiao to buy the book for him. In the weeks that followed, Gojyo had looked through the book so many times that several of the pages had become wear-worn. It was the first time Gojyo had taken that much interest in a book, and by mid-October, Jien had told Gojyo that if he wanted to that badly, they could have some sort of celebration.

Gojyo smiled a little in the darkness. He and Jien had chosen a tree in the forest that would be their tree on Christmas day, and he thought about the things he'd been collecting to decorate it with - small lengths of string, brightly coloured pieces of paper, bits of foil. To anyone else, it would look like a basket of garbage, but to Gojyo, it was some of the greatest treasure in the world. With thoughts of Christmas morning running through his mind, he closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.

* * *

On Christmas morning, Gojyo was up and at their tree before the sun had even fully risen. Quietly, he sat in front of it with his basket, and he waited for his brother to join him. The air was chilly, and the ground was damp, but Gojyo didn't seem to notice - it was Christmas, and he was excited. The sun climbed higher into the sky, but Gojyo stayed where he was, waiting. Finally, he heard the crunch of footsteps in the leaves behind him, and he got to his feet, a broad grin lighting up his entire face when he saw Jien. "You made it!"

Jien gave him a weary, but genuine smile in return. "Of course I did. I promised we'd have Christmas, didn't I, Dumbass?" He ruffled his hand through Gojyo's hair, snickering as the redhead tried in vain to bat his hands away. He sobered as he dropped his hand back away, and pulled the other to him in a hug. "I'm sorry I was so late, Gojyo," he said after a moment. "I wanted to come earlier, but mom --" He sighed heavily. "Anyway, here." He unslung his satchel from his shoulder and reached inside, passing his younger brother a bottle. "Lychee juice. You're probably pretty thirsty, huh?"

Gojyo nodded as he greedily gulped the juice down. "Yeah, but it's ok," he said as he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "I was just looking at the tree and thinking about how we should decorate it."

Jien chuckled. "That so? Well, you've waited long enough. Go for it."

Forgetting about the rest of his drink, Gojyo turned his attention to bedecking the small pine tree with his 'ornaments', calling on his brother to help him reach the taller boughs. When he was finished, his eyes were wide and shining, and he couldn't have kept the grin from his face if he'd wanted to. The pine didn't have any lights or candles, and the decorations were little more than discarded scraps, but to Gojyo, it was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen in his entire life. "Wow," he breathed as he sat down Indian-style on the grass in front of it to admire his handiwork. He felt Jien settle on the ground next to him, and when his brother draped his arm across his shoulders, he leaned into the muscular side, grateful for the warmth.

"Looks good, Squirt," Jien said. "It's missing one thing, though."

Gojyo turned to look at him, cocking his head quizzically to the side. "It is?"

"Yep." Jien reached for his satchel and pulled out a box wrapped in brown paper and tied with butcher's twine. "A present."

Gojyo grinned as he reached for the package, though he quickly drew his hands back before he'd taken it and jumped to his feet. 

Jien arched a brow in curiosity as he watched his little brother disappear into the woods, the second joining the first when Gojyo returned a few moments later with a burlap sack. He didn't say anything as the little redhead sat back down next to him and re-nestled into his side, though he couldn't help but be surprised when a messily wrapped package was thrust into _his_ hands. He'd never received a present before - not that he could remember, anyway - and he clenched his jaw tightly as a wave of emotion overcame him.

"Go on!" Gojyo urged, his own gift momentarily forgotten. "Open it! Open it!"

"Gojyo, you --" Jien managed a small smile as he looked into the eager eyes, and he nodded. "All right." He unrolled the gift from the sheets and sheets of newspaper it had been placed in, and his eyes went wide when he saw the hand painted wooden phurpa stand. "Oh...Gojyo..."

"It's for that thingie you have of Dad's," Gojyo said. "I know it's the one thing of his you've got, and uh..." Gojyo trailed off, his cheeks heating slightly as he looked away awkwardly. "I know it's important to you. I thought that maybe if you had something nice to put it on, you'd put it in your room instead of keeping it in that mandarin carton in your closet."

Jien swallowed against the lump he could feel forming in his throat. "It's perfect, Gojyo," he said, and then suddenly, he frowned, his expression turning cross. "Where did you get something like this? You didn't steal it from a temple, did you?"

Gojyo shook his head vehemently. "No! I didn't steal it, Jien. I swear it!"

"Then where --"

"I bought it! With money I earned and everything!" When he saw the dubious look his brother was giving him, Gojyo's expression turned slightly petulant. "I was doing stuff for Old Man Fong after school. I wanted it to be a total surprise, so I told you I had detention." He met his brother's eyes. "You can even check it out with him if you want to!" he added, his tone defensive.

Jien's eyes widened. "But Gojyo, every time you got detention, you also got a beating from me!"

Gojyo nodded. "I know. But I really wanted to get you a cool present. You deserve it for taking care of me all the time." He glanced sidelong at his brother, and after a few seconds of silence had passed between them, Gojyo chewed nervously at his lower lip. "I'm sorry I lied to you, Jien," he said quietly, and his expression turned earnest. "Are you mad at me?"

Jien could feel a sharp burning at the corners of his eyes, and he pulled Gojyo to him, hugging him tightly as he placed a soft kiss on the top of his head. "You big dumbass," he said softly, hoping his brother wouldn't hear the slight waver in his voice. "I'm not mad." He held him that way for a few minutes, and then, with a brotherly noogie to the skull, he shoved him playfully away. "You've got a present, too. Or did you forget?"

"Oh yeah!" He tore into the wrappings, a sound of delight escaping him when he saw the shiny chrome harmonica. "Cool!" He raised it to his lips and blew. "Thanks, Jien!" Thinking himself a natural, Gojyo wailed away for a few minutes on the harmonica, but paused when he remembered something. "Hey Jien? I thought you got laid off last month and all the money was going to the house?"

Jien smiled a little as he ran his fingers over the highly lacquered wood. "You're too young and stupid to be thinking about things like that."

"I'm eleven, Buttmunch. And I'm not stupid!"

"Yeah, right," Jien said as he again ruffled Gojyo's hair. "It's Christmas, and that book of yours said that good stuff just has a way of happening today, right? So don't worry about it, Dumbass."

* * *

"He sold it," Gojyo murmured to himself as he looked at the brass phurpa sitting on the vendor's table. He'd looked at the damned thing enough as a kid to know the one before him had once been Jien's. "Idiot."

"You like it?" the vendor asked. "I'll sell it to you cheap," he said. "Only one hundred yuan."

"A hundred? Sorry, but that's a carton of smokes, dude. Pass." Gojyo snorted softly as he crushed out the remnants of his cigarette with the toe of his boot and moved off down the street. He went a few steps before he paused, his thoughts drifting back to the old chrome harmonica that was still on his bookshelf back in Chang'an. "Idiot," he muttered under his breath, this time in reference to himself. Turning, he went back to the booth and passed the old man a bill. "On second thought..."

Gojyo smiled to himself as he took the bag the merchant handed him. It _was_ nearly Christmas, after all. Besides, he had a feeling that somewhere in his rooms in Houtou, Dokugakuji had an old phurpa stand laying about - hand painted and heavily lacquered - and just _waiting_ for the right piece to put with it.


End file.
